[lively music plays]
[Jordan Klepper] This past weekend,
Donald Trump finally hit the campaign trail.
So I headed down to South Carolina
for what was originally permitted as a MAGA rally
but later downgraded to an "intimate event."
What is this event?
It's a Trump rally.
It is a rally?
I'd say it was.
It's not a rally.
It's somewhat of a rally, but it's not a big rally now.
Now, I thought it was a rally.
It's not a rally.
It's a bunch of people standing in line.
It's an event.
It's a list.
Invited list only.
This is a private event that VIPs have been invited to.
[Jordan Klepper] Yes.
Only heavily-vetted VIPs were invited.
Like this guy.
Sombrero Trump. Jim Yates from Laurens, South Carolina.
Sombrero Trump?
Yes.
It's not a rally.
It's a leadership form forming leadership teams.
I see a guy like this.
I think this guy has got two dates circled on his calendar.
Cinco de Mayo and January 6th.
Yes.
[Jordan Klepper] This kickoff was packed with
classic style and classic takes.
Donald Trump is president right now.
He's currently the president?
Absolutely.
He is still president.
There's a lot of things that this Biden person does not have
like the presidential seal
and things like that,
that are pretty obvious.
Biden doesn't have the presidential seal?
-Mm-mmn. -No.
When he speaks,
there's a presidential seal in front of him.
It's not real.
[Jordan Klepper] What is he doing as president?
He is in charge of the military.
Great.
The military is in charge of this whole thing.
The military were put in charge in 2018
when President Trump signed an executive order.
The American military arms that are going to Ukraine,
we have Donald Trump to thank for that?
-No. -No.
That's-
-There's two militaries. -There's-
There's two militaries?!
There's a good and a bad.
So there's two militaries.
Donald Trump's in charge of the good one.
Yes.
Biden's in charge of the bad military?
-Yep. -That's exactly right.
[Jordan Klepper] Fortunately,
there were some supporters
who still believe an election cycle is actually necessary
and we're serious about planning for a long campaign.
He's just been doing a lot of preparations,
a lot of testing the waters,
and you know, just what's normal.
Talking to advisors.
Yeah, pretty much.
Nick Fuentes, Kanye West-
Pretty much, yeah.
...the minds that are gonna shape-
Right.
...the point of view of this whole campaign.
Right. Yeah.
[Jordan Klepper] The original Trump brand is still strong.
Sweet as honey that guy, huh?
Yes. Yes.
Mr. when the looting starts,
that's when the shooting starts.
-Exactly! -[man laughs]
[Jordan Klepper] But a new election cycle
could mean a different tone.
What are you seeing that is different
about Trump and his tone with this kind of an event?
I think it's more elevated.
He's at a more kind of mature level,
how everybody's got all their advisors,
it's almost like he's finally listening to his a little bit
as far as tone the comments down.
Are you noticing even the MAGA community being more-
Oh, they're great!
...serious and respectable?
If you watch the conservative rhetoric,
it looks like you still love America.
Conservative rhetoric still respects
positions of power in this country.
Our police,
our military-
Our executive branch.
Exactly.
What's your hat say?
-[man laughs] -I don't remember.
I could shit a better president!
[Jordan laughs]
[Jordan Klepper] This campaign is already attacking
Biden's approach to the war in Ukraine
while lauding Trump's brilliant,
yet still theoretical approach.
Putin would've never ever gone in
and even now I could solve that in 24 hours.
Trump says he could pick up the phone
and end this thing in 24 hours.
What actually would he say?
"Knock it off."
He'd kind of be that...
that kind of tone to him.
You think totally "knock it off"
might cower Vladimir Putin?
Because he knows Trump stands up and says,
"hey, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do it."
Do you wish Biden would threaten nuclear war?
No, no.
No.
Strong stance of, "hey, stop doing this."
Okay. Or...
You gotta have a rattle behind that saber.
Right, which is?
Troops. But you don't want to do troops.
[Jordan Klepper] Right.
Because then you have all that war.
Right. So what would it be?
Threat of it.
Threat of troops?
Correct.
So you want Trump to get into office
and promise to put troops into that war?
No, I want him to stop it verbally.
'Cause you don't want military into it
because then it escalates.
Right, but you said verbally you have to have
some sort of backup.
Correct.
So you want Trump to have that backup,
which would be not troops.
No, he has the troops.
So you would support troops being sent in?
You don't wanna send troops in.
It seems like a complicated situation.
It is. Very complicated.
[Jordan Klepper] Fortunately,
for some of these non rally-goers
it doesn't have to be that complicated.
I haven't seen any news reports about, you know,
this terrible war in Ukraine.
Where do you get your news?
Newsmax.
And they haven't covered it at all?
I think that there's no war to cover.
I think the whole thing is fabricated.
And I think that Zelenskyy,
who's the president of Ukraine,
I believe that this is all extortion money.
I spent a little time in Hungary
and I met people who were coming from Ukraine
to try to find safe haven.
Mm-hmm.
They were actual refugees fleeing
what they said was a war zone.
Were they lying?
I just think they might be actors.
As far as I know,
I believe that they might be actors.
All of those people I met in Hungary,
those aren't refugees?
I believe that the government is paying them to do that.
That's a lot of actors.
If that's a side gig, that's gonna cost you billions.
Hey-
[Jordan Klepper] And if this is the Trump campaign's
first round of invites,
America is in for a sweet, sweet ride.
[lively music plays]
Last week, Donald Trump declared his arrest was imminent
and called for a protest to "take our nation back"
outside the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
So yesterday I entered all the way downtown
and joined the media circus
to observe this crowd of MAGA protestors
who were definitely around here somewhere.
Yeah.
This is the Truth Social here-
it says, "Tuesday protest: take our nation back."
Excuse me, is this the protest for Trump?
Or the Trump protest?
Or the supporting?
Are we taking our nation back?
Is that today?
I thought it was today.
So I did have the day right.
And then I found
a proud and totally concealed Trump supporter.
Why you here?
So Trump went on his own social media.
And he called out people,
his supporters,
to come out here and support him.
And right now that's just you.
Heavy is the crown.
Okay.
I'm here to actually see what's going on.
Everyone was talking about it.
So I came here to check it out.
You wanted to see it with your own eyes.
Eyes, that's right,
because I don't believe what I'm hearing on the news media.
So what have you seen so far?
Absolutely almost nothing.
Nothing?
Correct.
[Jordan Klepper] This was an unusual MAGA rally.
The numbers were low and it was in my own city.
However, the arguments over some basic facts
were refreshingly familiar.
Do you think it's fair for Trump to be indicted
if that does happen this week?
Listen, I don't know all the specific facts,
but what I do know is he's my president.
Right now?
I think he's my president. Yeah.
You think he's serving the role as your president
currently?
Well, he's, in my heart he's my president.
Okay, good.
I just have to be clear sometimes.
Well, sure, sure.
You think Joe Biden is president, right?
No, I think that man is is a scam.
[man laughs]
I just know that allegedly he's there
because that man doesn't make any sense to me.
But technically he is there?
He is serving the role of president?
Maybe. I don't know.
I haven't been down to Washington DC,
I've not seen him walk in the White House.
You don't think he actually spends time
in the White House?
I don't know.
Well, there are videos of him in the White House.
He's...
can we just...
I just want to get beyond this fact.
He is the president of the United States.
Donald Trump was the president of the United States.
Fact?
That's what some say.
[Jordan groans]
Oh, okay. This is-
-That's what some say. -Right.
Deborah, why are you here today?
Joe Biden is going after him because...
I don't even know why he going after him
'cause they gonna push him out the door
and probably bring Michelle Obama, Michael Obama in.
Okay? But I-
Michael Obama?
That's correct, okay? They made-
Why do you call her Michael Obama?
No, don't ask me that.
What did Joan Rivers say?
That's correct. Does anybody remember what she said?
Do you get most of your news from Joan Rivers?
Oh no, I don't get none of my news from Joan Rivers.
I'm just telling you what she said about Michael Obama.
Okay?
[Jordan Klepper] Regardless of their sources,
the MAGA crowd which the police estimated to be between
three and six people believe these charges
were unworthy of a former president.
-This is a political attack. -Yes!
They're not charging somebody else for this crime?
Right.
They did charge somebody else with this exact crime.
Well, Michael Cohen was charged,
pled guilty,
served time in jail.
Disloyalty.
This is about a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star
while his wife was at home with their newborn son.
But loyalty is a big issue for you?
Right.
So we all know Trump doesn't understand how the law works.
Turns out he doesn't know when it works either.
But for MAGA supporters feeling FOMO
about missing the Donald showdown with justice,
I'm confident you'll get another chance.
How long are you gonna be here today?
I don't know.
Maybe a couple more hours.
Walk around, grab something to eat.
If Trump is indicted in Georgia next you going there?
-I don't know, maybe I will. -[man laughs]
And it's like a big old indictment tour, right?
I'll see you in Georgia,
maybe we'll swing by DC.
[lively music plays]
Tuesday's arraignment
of former president Donald Trump in New York
was a first for the nation and brought
out the passionate,
the sensibly dressed,
and the kind of men who really disappoint their mothers.
Two genders!
[Demonstrators] Two genders!
Two genders!
[Jordan Klepper] While I had fun getting into the scrum,
I was surprised to find there were people
who wanted to have meaningful conversations
about the justice system.
I don't believe what you're seeing is justice.
You don't believe in the grand jury process?
I don't believe if this was a a civilian, it would-
I mean, he is a civilian,
he's a person with a New York address.
So he shouldn't go through the grand jury process?
I believe it should be dismissed.
Because?
Because I'm going by general gut feeling.
The way I see it is, you know,
the government is stepping over their bounds
in doing what they're doing here,
indicting Donald Trump.
This stuff happens all the time.
What stuff?
Paying off a porn star and then fudging business records?
I mean, come on.
It's his own money for one thing.
And out of all the cases up against Donald Trump
this is probably the weakest one?
Probably the weakest one.
Right, yeah.
There's no evidence to bring about this prosecution, so-
Well we don't know that until there's a grand jury
who can then see that evidence.
You know, listen,
I think that everyone should get a fair trial.
So you would support a grand jury
looking at all of the evidence
and if they decide to indict Donald Trump
well then we will let that happen.
Sure, certainly.
If there's evidence, you know,
every piece of evidence should be heard.
Well, I mean, that's what happened here.
Mmm.
There's an excitement in the air.
It feels almost like the American version of a royal event.
If the king [censored] a porn star,
paid her,
and then lied about it in business records.
It's like an American coronation.
And then the Donald arrived.
The former leader of the free world
was now possibly in the same room
as a group of recently busted subway masturbators.
I think he wants the media.
[Jordan Klepper] You think he orchestrated all of this?
Yeah because, his polls, like DeSantis,
was sort of rising.
Now he's taking all the air outta the room now, Trump.
In 2016, he had all the media, Fox News-
[Jordan Klepper] Yeah.
..CNN was covering him,
now they don't cover him anymore.
Now they have to.
Getting arrested is the smartest thing he could do!
He's like one of the smartest guys that I know of.
And you're talking about the man
who's getting fingerprinted inside that building right now?
I think they fingerprinted him already.
They have his DNA.
That guy's left his DNA in a lot of different places.
Listen, this is like the seventh time.
Could Trump run his election campaign from prison?
He could do anything, Trump.
Yeah.
Would that dissuade you in any way?
Even if they give him 34 felonies, you know,
it's just like Trump, he's untouchable.
He's untouchable
except the person who's literally touching his fingerprints
right now.
Have you donated to the Trump campaign since he was?
Haven't thought about it up until now,
but I guess I'd consider it, sure.
Trump has fundraised like over $5 million for this.
So in some ways,
it's almost like he's getting paid to have sex.
Is he a sex worker?
I mean, it's cool.
There's no judgment.
Look I think you guys are great,
I love senses of humor.
But in many ways,
you should appreciate this is not funny
because they're going after Trump today,
they'll go after me tomorrow,
and then they'll go after you.
Did you pay off a porn star
and then lie about your business records?
Oh-
I'm sorry. That's gotta be frightening.
I guess he could come for us if we've been involved
in hush money payments
and then lying on our business records
and then using that when it comes to the campaign as well,
like I guess that could happen to anybody!
Perhaps we don't need justice to be blind, just friendly.
[lively music plays]